Friday, November 28, 2014

Simply Snowflake Gift Box Project and #blackfridayblogcandy giveaway!


Happy Black Friday! Thanks for coming by today. I know it's a busy day of shopping - either online or hitting the malls - so I appreciate you coming by to visit! I've got a fun share today...a project you can create with the November My Paper Pumpkin kit and a couple of sheets of DSP and card stock. But before we do that, I've got some blog candy to give away!  So, let's take a look at what you can win, shall we? All you need to do is leave me a comment on this post to be eligible to win! Here's a look at the goodies:


I'm giving away a Chevron embossing folder, Designer Brads, and a roll of Old Olive Scalloped Dots Ribbon. It's all packaged up and ready for one lucky winner!


I'll be making the announcement on Monday, Dec 1. All you need to do is leave me a comment on this post by midnight Pacific Time on Sunday, November 30th!

Now that we've got the blog candy covered, we can check out this alternative Simply Snowflake project!  I had fun putting this box together and am so pleased with the outcome that I will probably be making more of these as gifts for the holidays! Here's a closer look...


I used the Simply Snowflake card as a base and then scored it at 1" on either side of the original card score lines.  This makes for a finished box of 2"x 4 1/4/"x 3 1/2".


I used the All is Calm DSP to cover the sides of the box.


Here's a look at the top of the box, with the twine removed. 


And a peek at the inside.  Surprise! There's a set of cards and envelopes.  Aren't these so cute?!


Here's a look at the box filling, out of the box.


I made a set of these 3" x 4" cards using the stamps and washi tape from the Simply Snowflake kit from Paper Pumpkin and for the trim, I used a little All is Calm DSP.  I rounded the corners using the Envelop Punch Board.  There's a handy corner rounder punch right on the board!  You'll see that I used it on the envelope flap below as well.


Here are the envelopes I created using the Envelope Punch Board and the All is Calm DSP.  I'm such a fan of the Envelope Punch Board. LOVE these envies! They are such a cute size {though you can make so many different sizes on the punch board - so cool!}.  I'm smitten by the All is Calm paper, too - the prints are so FAB! The envelopes measure 3 1/4" x 4 1/4".


Here's a closer look at the set of cards and envelopes.  Whaddaya think?

Below is a list of supplies I used for the project.  Note that the Simply Snowflakes refill kit is available to order, though you need to be an existing Paper Pumpkin subscriber to get the refill.  If you're not one, I definitely encourage you to give it a try and subscribe! I think you'll really enjoy making the projects. You can click on the link below to purchase a 3 month subscription.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog


Thanks so much for stopping by today! If you haven't taken a peek at Stampin'Up!'s Online Extavaganza, I definitely encourage you to do so.  There are lots of great deals on stamps and accessories that you don't want to miss!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Thanks so much for stopping in! If you'd like to check out more projects and #blackfridayblogcandy, hop over to Pink Bling Crafter!



Thursday, November 27, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving with a couple #tbt's

Happy Thanksgiving to you all, dear blog friends!  

As I'm sure many of you are in the midst of turkey day prep and/or festivities, I'll keep this short and sweet with a couple of flashbacks from Turkey Day's past...


Hard to believe that little man's first Thanksgiving was 3 years ago already!  


Here's a place setting from a few years back...


And our table.  

I'm now still in the midst of our turkey day prep myself, so I'll say bye for now and best wishes to you all for a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!


Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Black Friday Blog Candy!


Hi there friends! I know you're probably getting ready with Thanksgiving festivities, but I wanted to share that I'll be having a blog candy giveaway to kick-off Black Friday.  So, come and visit me anytime Friday thru Sunday and leave me a comment and you could be a winner of some calorie-free candy! :)

I'll also be posting an alternative project for the November Paper Pumpkin kit. Fun stuff, so stay tuned....

In the meantime, don't forget that Stampin'Up!'s Online Extravaganza is going on now, so be sure to check out the great deals! Bye for now!


Monday, November 24, 2014

Online Extravaganza starts {Today!}



Hi all!  How about Black Friday on Monday?  Here's the link to Stampin'UP!'s Online Extravaganza. I just took a peek and saw lots of awesome deals!  

Hope you enjoy the shopping! Have a great Monday and I'll catch up with you guys soon!


Sunday, November 23, 2014

Online Extravaganza Sale starts Monday, Nov 24!


Guess what, blog friends?!  Stampin'Up!'s Online Extravaganza starts this Monday, Nov 24 thru Tuesday Dec 2!  There are some fabulous deals you'll want to check out, especially the doorbuster specials on Monday, Nov 24 and Monday Dec 1.  The great news is, there's no waiting in line - you can shop at the comfort of your own computer by visiting my online store here!

I'm also giving away a set of 3 tags {pictured below} to every person that places an order in November:

There are lots of cool things on sale, so be sure to scoop up your faves while supplies last!

Don't forget! I have a November Blog Candy Giveaway to celebrate my 
Stampin'Up! Anniversary! 



Friday, November 21, 2014

Many Merry Stars!


Happy Friday, all!  With December just around the corner, I've been thinking a lot about holiday decor and what to make.  One of the things I'm really excited about is creating all these stars from the Many Merry Stars kit! Take a look at the video. You may be inspired to create these pretty stars yourself!

Here's a quick look at the products and supplies:


Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog



You can also visit my online store to check out all the products! Thanks for coming by today and enjoy your Friday! Ciao for now :)



Wednesday, November 19, 2014

A look at November's My Paper Pumpkin kit


Hello peeps! One of the things I look forward to getting in the mail each month is the My Paper Pumpkin kit and I have to say I just LOVE this month's project.  The snowflake cards and holiday tags are perfect for the holidays.  


The die cut snowflakes make the card look so fancy! 


I love the silver baker's twine around the card.  It makes it such a pretty little package.


And the tags - how cool and hip are those? The silver foil snowflake accent with a little rhinestone bling in the center will dress up any present!


And here's a look at the card slightly opened. The sentiment is stamped on a piece of white card stock and attached to the card by a piece of festive washi tape.  How cute is that!


Here's a pic of all the goodies that come in the box.  The kit comes with enough supplies to make 8 cards and 12 tags, plus there's always extra goodies and embellies left over, so you can really make the project your own.  It really is such a nice surprise to get each month!  And, with the holidays approaching, I think it would make a great gift to give to friends who love crafting or want to dabble with crafts.  They'll love that everything they need is in the box!


How fun would it be to give a friend this cute little package that they can look forward to getting each month?  To make things easy for gift-giving, there are prepaid subscription options for you to choose from:


Not only are they great for gifts, but a great treat for yourself, too! ;)  You can check out more details and purchase your prepaid subscriptions here or visit My Paper Pumpkin to sign yourself up for month-to-month subscriptions. Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Have a great one. :)

Don't forget! I have a November Blog Candy Giveaway to celebrate my Stampin'Up! Anniversary!  Leave me a comment here to play!





Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Sharing Tags + Stampin'Up!'s Weekly Deals {Nov 18}


Hello there, crafty friends!  Today, I've got some tags to share using the Tag Topper Scalloped Punch and the Tree Punch. As you can see above, I made some quick and easy tags as well as one that's a little more stepped up.  Either way, they will look adorable on your holiday gifts!


Here's the stepped up version.  I added "star ornaments" on my tree using the Confetti Star Punch on the Gumball Green card stock and layering that on top of a tree punched out of Real Red card stock.  For the snow, I used a smudge of Whisper White card stock that I embossed with the Decorative Dots embossing folder.  And then to dress up the tag, I tied the ribbons with a couple of tiny bells (I bought a small bag full of these from Michael's a few years ago) that I tied up with some twine.


Here's a look at the quick tags. They're nice and simple and come together quickly. These are great to mass produce!  All I did was punch the the scallop top, punch out a tree, add a button, and stamp a sentiment (I used the Festival of Trees photopolymer stamps set, which coordinates with the Tree Punch!).  And finally, I added this gorgeous Real Red Satin Woven Ribbon on the top.  Viola, you're done!

So, as a thank you to anyone that places a Stampin'Up! order from my Online Store, you'll get a set of 3 of the simple tags above from me!

Now, here's a look at this week's Stampin'Up! Weekly deals!  These specials are available Nov 18 thru Nov 24.


And, here's a link to the Holiday Catalog and the Holiday Supplement, too!  Enjoy browsing or better yet, getting started on your holiday shopping!



Friday, November 14, 2014

Clutter girl cleans her craft room

Hi all!  Happy Friday! Now, before I get started,  I have a question for you: Are you more of an organized crafter or a tornado-came-through-your-room kind of crafter?  Well, I would like to say I'm the former, but clearly from the title of this post, I'm the latter. :) As you can imagine, when you couple a crazy work schedule and busy family life, a craft room can quickly go into disrepair if unattended.  Creating a card here, a banner there, and before you know it, it's a hot mess.  So, slowly, I began the process of sorting, organizing and editing. It's still a work in progress, although much more presentable. Today, I'm going to take you behind the scenes of what is now the current view of my craft room. And, to my hubby's delight, you can now walk in it without the danger of stepping on something!


You may recognize the table - it's provided the background of many of my crafting projects! :)  Prior to the table, I was a "floor crafter".  I'm happy to say that not only does the table provide a more friendly work surface, but it also has a nice shelf beneath for storage and keeping things nice and tidy.


This piece of furniture is from Ikea - it's a workhorse and houses many of my supplies.  What I love is that the baskets are great for organization and storage and are a great way to keep things looking neat.


I got this from a big box store and love that it houses my buttons, ribbons and accessories.  You may recognize a few of these projects on display, too.  Time for me to update with this holiday season's crafts!


Here's a look at my work area.  When I need to sit and design something, this is where it happens.  On my desktop, you'll also see those 2 Ott lights on top.  These are great for taking pictures of projects when there's not enough daylight.  Hence, these are my go-to light sources since I often craft at night.


This is a view that you may have seen in this post.  I started my craft room cleanup and organization here. These cabinets used to have a hodgepodge of crafting supplies. Now, they house most of my clear mount stamps, card stock, and an assortment of Big Shot dies.  You wouldn't know that all this stuff was in there....


See?  My kitty Ollie loves to be the helper in my craft room and now makes sure I put everything back when I work on projects. :)

Thanks for stopping by today!  Now that I have a cleaner and more usable craft space, I'm inspired to craft more often and share with you all. Have a great day!

Don't forget! I have a November Blog Candy Giveaway to celebrate my Stampin'Up! Anniversary!  Leave me a comment here to play!




Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Weekly Deals {Nov 11} and a new photopolymer stamp set!


Hello blog friends and Happy Wednesday!  Just wanted to pop in and share Stampin'Up!'s Weekly Deals this week from Nov 11 to Nov 17.  And, I also wanted to share the new photopolymer stamp set called Banner Blessings.  It's such a sweet set of sentiments and I love the whimsical handwriting font:


What do you think?  Super cute set, right?  Well, dear blog friends, if photopolymer stamps are your cup of tea then you'll want to check out Stampin'Up!'s collection of photopolymer stamps here! I personally love the photopolymer stamps, too, for many of the same reasons you do, I'm sure.  It's great to be able to see exact placement of your stamp image, and I love how they adhere so nicely to the acrylic blocks.  Lots of reasons to love these!

Hope you all have a great day! 

Don't forget! I have a November Blog Candy Giveaway to celebrate my Stampin'Up! Anniversary!  Leave me a comment here to play!




Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Cute paper packages tied up with string


Do you love packages as much as I do?  Then you will just LOVE these fun boxes made with the Gift Box Punch Board. They are perfect for little presents for the holidays, stocking stuffers, or cute decor for your tree and/or around the house! I had a lot of fun putting these together. I made 3 sizes - the smallest are 1.75" square boxes and the largest is a 4" square box.  What I also love about these boxes is that you don't need any adhesive to put them together as you see in these pictures.  The tops have a notch closure, so the box will stay together nice and securely. They do look adorable using the Under the Tree Specialty Designer Series Paper, don't they?  Not only are the prints super cute, but the paper is a nice and durable cardboard weight.  Here's a closer look at the boxes:


These small square boxes are perfect for tiny trinkets!


This medium sized box would make great packaging for a pair of socks or mittens.


This 4" square box is the largest that can be made with the Gift Box Punch Board and it's just the right size for a belt, candle, or even sweet treats! Whatever creativity you can fit, you can rest assured it will be cutely packaged! ;)  I decided to embellish this box with a bow that I die cut using the Gift Bow Bigz L die which I then embossed with the Polka Dot Embossing folder.  I'm a big fan of the polka dots, so I really love how this bow came out.

Thanks for popping by today!

Don't forget! I have a November Blog Candy Giveaway to celebrate my Stampin'Up! Anniversary!  Leave me a comment here to play!



Monday, November 10, 2014

Special blog candy for my Stampin'Up! anniversary!


Hello there blog friends and HAPPY MONDAY! Today, November 10th, is my 14th anniversary as a Stampin'Up Demonstrator!  Can you believe it?!  To share in the celebration and as a thanks to you all for being a part of my crafting world, I am giving away a Stampin'Up! Holiday Home photopolymer stamp set.  One lucky person will be picked at random. All you have to do is leave me a comment by Sunday, November 30 at midnight Pacific Time. You can leave me a comment about anything, or you can tell me what your all time favorite Stampin'Up! Stamp Set is! I'll announce the lucky winner on Monday, December 1st.

I'm so glad to be celebrating this anniversary. It's a testament to my commitment to Stampin'Up! and my love for stamping and paper crafting.  As many of you know, I work full time and I'm more of a passionate "hobby demonstrator" that enjoys the craft and sharing my experience with others.  What I do love about this company is that I'm able to make my business fit my needs.  There are times when I've throttled it up, but in more recent times, have had to take it down a notch in order to keep a balance with family and my day job commitments.  In every case, I've still enjoyed the benefits of being a demonstrator and all the comraderie that I've experienced with fellow demonstrators and customers who also have a love of the craft. I've got great downline demonstrators as well, that I am so glad to be part of my team.

I thank you all for coming to visit with me and also getting the chance to know some of you.  It's through our mutual appreciation of all things paper crafting that I think allows for us to feel like we know each other and it's a really nice feeling.  I know that my blogging hasn't been the most consistent, but I do enjoy sharing with you all and hearing back from you on occasions, too!

I think I'm in a good place to have more regular postings to share with you all, so I hope you continue to come and visit.  As you'll see in upcoming posts, my craft room transformation has had a lot to do with my ability to craft again. IE, I've cleaned it up so that I can actually DO some crafting :)  There are also lots of things to celebrate in the holiday season, so I definitely want to pop in and share ideas on that front, too!

I look forward to reading your comments and am excited to be giving this fun stamp set away to a lucky winner!



Saturday, November 8, 2014

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles {birthday card!}


Who's a fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?!  Well, apparently lots of kids are!  Today, we attended a friend's son's birthday party and he's all about the turtles.  So, I couldn't help but oblige and make him a Leonardo card.  It was a great challenge for me, since I haven't seen the latest movie or shows (my little guy is not quite into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles yet).  Lucky for me there's Pinterest and the whole interweb to help guide me with some images and themes.  After doing my research, I came up with this fun little flip card for our friend Bryce who just turned 5!


I used the Thinlits Circle Card to create the Basic Black cardstock base.  Then I used the Honeycomb embossing folder to create my Old Olive layer that I added on top of the base.  For the sewer whole, I used the Circle Framelits and Chevron embossing folder.


Then, on the inside of the card, I created my Leonardo turtle!  So easy, thanks to the Circle and Oval framelits! For his mask, I cut out an extra circle in Night of Navy and then just hand cut it and laid it on top of the green circle.  I used scraps from the Night of Navy circle to make the ties. Fun tip: Use the banner punch to make the perfect ends on the tails! For the sentiment, I used the Age Awareness stamp set and cut it out with the banner framelit from the Thinlits Circle card. And last but not least, of course, I had to personalize the card! For that, I used the Little Letters Thinlits, which I just LOVE.  Viola!


Here's one last look at the card.  Aren't these flip cards great? Hope this has inspired you to make some ninja turtles.  They are pretty fun and easy to make!

Thanks for stopping by!



Thursday, November 6, 2014

Sweet blue-eyed love birds


Hey there, crafty friends.  Today is my dear cousin's 15th anniversary, so I made her and my cousin-in-law this sweet and simple love bird card.  My inspiration came from a card I came across while I was perusing Pinterest the other day. It struck me because it was so cute, yet so simple!  


In the version I created, I used the Tangelo Twist card stock to punch out my birds with the Bird Builder punch.  Then, I punched out the hearts using the Itty Bitty Accents heart punch.  I layered my little birdies onto a Crumb Cake card stock base.


For the "blue" eyes, I colored in the Rhinestone Basic Jewels with the medium blue marker in the Coastal Cabana Blendabilities assortment.  To pull in that blue accent color a little more, I used the Coastal Cabana thick baker's twine.  And lastly, I stamped the "happy anniversary" sentiment in Tangelo Twist, using one of my retired stamp sets (still love the font of this sentiment!) Here's one last look at the finished card:


Thanks for stopping by for a visit.  Have a fabulous day :)